Impossible
by Wild Way Force
Summary: Gary and Hodge get what they want. And Johan is stuck in their future. When not fighting to survive he spends all his time figuring out how to fix things. Then he gets luck by forcing the impossible to become possible. [This is not connect to the Mood Mind series]
1. Chapter 1

It has been two years since Johan's greatest failure. Since Gary and Hodge got what they want. Now he was stuck in their perfect future. Doing what he had to too survive and used any spare time to think of ways to fix things. He was forced to use a fake name out in public in case somehow Gary and Hodge got whiff of him. The only person he trusted to talk to about it was Hadley. But for right now he was just watching a couple play with their two year old daughter Katherine, his little sister, from the side walk holding his bike up. Johan made sure to keep tabs on Katherine, Chip and Andrea after they were adopted. He was just happy that Katherine's adopted parents kept the name. But then again that wasn't surprising. All the kids kept their names so the parents could brag about it. Johan watched with disgust and remorse when she giggled. It was the perfect time to be out. It was just after six- thirty and the sun was warm but not too hot. The light gave everything a gold tint. _Somehow I will fix this!_ Johan repeated the promised he made to himself two years ago. He began to push the bike forward leaving the family alone. His goggles bounced slightly on his chest as he walked. Johan stopped to reposition them on his forehead before climbing on the bike and taking off. They weren't just to protect his eyes but they also had built in binoculars, electromagnetic sense and heat detectors. He wouldn't have survived somethings he did without them. Johan biked through the town center and around people mingling about. It didn't take him too long to get where he was going. He pulled up to the door of an abandon warehouse. His home for the past two years. It was two stories high with a row of windows boarding with the roof. The best part was it was completely solar power. Scientist by this time have figured out how to not only make it a hundred percent efficient but a few hours of sunlight was enough to power the lights and electronics for three days. The only person who knew that someone lived here was Haley. Johan unlocked the door and pushed it open. An open and nearly empty floor plan greeted him as he pushed his bike inside. It took him and Haley a few months to get things into a living commination. He leaned the bike against the wall and flipped the lights on before walking to the small fridge on the other side of the building. Johan had far more space than he knew what to do with. In all honesty he would've been fine with a small apartment but he didn't have money and no one in their right mind would rent to fifteen year old. Besides secrecy was better for his line of work.

"Let's see. Stir fry. Ramen. Chicken. Chili. Pasta." He checked out his leftover options. Johan pulled out the pasta and chili. He put the pasta on a plate then the chili on top. Putting it in the microwave he felt a pang of sadness. _That's right. Mom made this the night Chip came over and told me he was adopted. The night that changed everything._ It felt like a life time ago. For Chip and Katherine and the others it was. The microwaved beeped forcing him back to reality. He took it out and sat down at the wooden table.

"TV, news." Johan spoke out loud. A screen flashed to life near the back wall. Johan ate without really listening to it. He was too focused on what he was going to do next.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, he woke by the light filtering through the windows. Then his alarm went off. He groaned, turned off his alarm and got up. _Breakfast then shower._ Johan stretched out his spine. Breakfast was simple with a bowl of cereal and a banana while watching some cartoons. After his shower he dressed in a simple white long sleeve shirt with an orange t-shirt jacket over it, his googles around his neck, a pair of dark blue jeans, socks and running shoes on his feet. He packed a black sling backpack with a full water bottle, a couple of snacks, his wallet, a pair of work gloves. Johan checked the time on his phone before stuffing it in his pocket. It was just after nine thirty. He pushed his bike out of the warehouse and locked it up. Next stop, work.

Johan ended up at rundown restaurant at the west edge of town. He sat down at an empty table and order a glass of water. His business plan was simple. Let the work come to him. Over the past two years he'd gain a reputation as a decent bounty hunter. At first he had to hunt down his jobs but now he just had to hang out here and it wouldn't be long before someone came to him. On the wall next to bar was a large screen showing the news. He wasn't watching long till someone came up to his table. Johan turn his full attention on him. It was a man in a wrinkled-fill shirt with the sleeve poorly rolled up. His hair was sprawled all over with the occasional grey hair standing out.

"You Geo Advervent?" The man asked.

"That depends on what you want." Johan answered. The man took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"How about a tri-scepter dual processor." He answered. Johan had to struggle not roll his eyes or huff. But somehow he kept his cool composer.

"Those are hard to get a hold of. What do you have in return?" Johan started to tip his chair back slightly. The man was now leaning forward.

"Three hundred." He said firmly.

"Five hundred!" Johan retorted just as firmly staring the man down his chair flat on the ground again. He didn't need much for food and other necessities but he still had to pay back Hadley for his helping _loan._ The man looked to the side contemplating it for a second.

"How about three seventy-five with a down payment of the seventy-five and a free ID scan, Alpha level?" He offered. Johan leaned back against the chair again thinking about it. The payment wasn't bad and ID scans weren't cheap period! A free one may come in handy someday. Johan knew where he could get his hands on the processor. There were worse jobs he'd done with less of a reward.

"Alright. You got a deal." Johan stuck out a hand to shake. The man smiled and gave him a firm shake then handed him his seventy-five dollars.

"I can get it to you by as late as tomorrow morning. Where do you want the pick up?" Johan leaned back again.

"Right here. Can you get it here by closing?" The man replied. Johan knew he should charge a bit extra for a tight timeline. But he didn't want to be a bounty hunter, all he wanted to be was thirteen back home with Mom, Dad and Katherine. So he knocked the opportunity away with a nod. The man nodded again then left him alone. Closing was at ten thirty. He checked the time at the bottom of the news cast. A few minutes after ten. That gave him twelve and half hours. Johan down the rest of water in his glass and got up to leave.

It was a sunny day again with a stale breeze tossing his bangs to the sides. He pulled out a small black rubber rod from his bag and gave it a hard jerk down. Almost instantly his bike appeared. Despite living here for two years Johan still didn't understand completely how all the tech worked. But as long as it worked he didn't question it too much. He hopped on heading for the nearest transport station at the north end of town. Johan kept his fast and paced speed. The sooner he got there the less likely he would have to wait. Some people merely got out of the way without thinking twice, but others would make him go around them then give him a few choice words. He skidded to a stop at the sky station. The station constantly reminded him of a train station mixed with a space port in _Star Wars_. There were a several of maps line in a row with people checking them out. With a swift yank upwards on the handle bar it shrunk back into the grip and stuffed it in his bag. Johan walked over to an open map and touched the screen. It instantly changed to a dark screen a list of shuttles heading to the closest terminal to his destination. And the most recent one was just about to leave! _Just my luck!_ Johan quickly paid and his ticket came out of the screen. Johan snagged the ticket then rushed off to the correct port. The door was just starting to close when he got there. He jumped on the rising door tucking his head down so he wouldn't bang it. _Hopefully that was the last close call for the day._ He took a seat next to the window on the far side of ship. It started to rise straight up in the air showing off the vast landscape of a suburb, city and open land. Johan pulled out snack from his back and tore off the top of the packing. Before he could even take a bite a small kid walked up in front of him with a smile on his face. Johan looked at him till he spoke.

"Hey mister! Do you have any more snacks? I ate breakfast but it still wasn't enough." The kid asked with still a smile on his face. Johan had no idea how to react. Fortunately for him before he could think of anything the boy's mother came over.

"Shinya Caladsra! How many times have I told you? Don't go asking people for their food!" She scowled him before turning to Johan.

"I'm really sorry about all of this." She apologized.

"There's no need. In fact, I do have some extra snacks." Johan dug in his bag and pulled out the rest of his snacks. He held them in display in both his hands for the kid to see.

"Take your pick! I shouldn't be eating all of this anyway." He offered. The kid's smile broke even bigger as he took a granola bar out of his hand.

"Thanks! You're nice! I like you." The kid said then walked off. Johan turned back to his mom to see how she would react. She thanked him and apologized again then walked off as well. _What's the matter with kids these days? When I was that age we'd never go around asking from food from strangers. Great now I'm sounding like my grandparents._ He thought munching on his own snack. For the rest of the flight he looked out the window at how the Earth curved and glowed by the sun with the black space as the backdrop.


	3. Chapter 3

The ship landed in another hanger identical to the one it took off from. People walked every which way. There were parents trying to keep their kids in line and business men in suits talking to each other. Johan walked out of the facility and popped his bike back out. He took off down a road that cut right through a sea of wild grass. The only thing to keep him company was the power line and their poles that stretched parallel to the road. Sooner or later he would reach his target if kept to this road. The ride itself was peaceful. Just him and the occasional animal. A factory broke the horizon. The closer Johan got the bigger and more intimidating it looked. But Johan merely smirked and resisted a chuckled. A factory this size would need much more power than solar panels could provide. So they were directly connected to a power plant. He peddled over to a power line pole and hoped off. Johan let the bike fall on the ground as he pulled out his work gloves from his bag. He looked up at a metal box at the top of the wood pole, under the box was two large metal hooks on both sides. A fall from the height would seriously injure him if didn't kill him. But thankfully he was a pro at doing these kinds of stunts. He hugged the pole and started climbing upwards. Using a metal rod as a seat, he pulled open the cover of the metal box. Inside was a large circuit board and a rainbow of different colored wires. Johan pulled out his water bottle and popped open the lid.

"Whoops!" He muttered sarcastically as he squirted water on the equipment. The factory would come to a dead halt without any power. And everyone would be forced to evacuate. Johan closed the panel cover and slid down. He got back on his bike and made his way to the side of the factory that was off the road. A tall wired fence now stood in his way. With the power on it would zap any human that tried to climb it but still allowed birds to land on it safely. But with the power off it was just a normal wire fence. Johan smirked again as he retracted his bike to stuff it back in his bag. The fence was at least ten feet high but Johan was forced to get over his fear of heights a long time ago. He jumped off from the top, landing on the ground safely with a bend of his knees. From the back and front he could hear the workers starting to spill out. It wouldn't be long for someone to see. He needed to get inside quick. Johan dashed through the wild grass to a small unused exit door. With the power out all the doors were unlocked. He opened the door just enough for him to slip in, making sure the door didn't slam shut. Then he was submersed in the very faint red glow of the emergency lights. It was only enough to cast shadows of all the large machines. Johan repositioned the googles around his neck, around his eyes. He tapped the left frame three times to enter the electromagnetic spectrum. The red light disappeared and was replaced by millions of tiny yellow dots outlining everything. He could hear voices and footsteps from deeper within. Probably just employees making their way out. Johan casually strolled to the packaging area. A conveyor belt lead into a room where huge boxes were stacked on top of each other ready to be shipped out. Under the end of the belt was one of those boxes just about to be filled with smaller cardboard boxes. They were roughly the size of a yellow notepad. A box looked big enough to hold a hundred. _So one box will be short one. They'll never notice. Especially since all the computers got wiped from the sudden power outage._

"Don't take it personally. It's just business." Johan muttered to himself putting one into his bag. There were more footsteps but they were becoming too close for comfort. He ducked behind the box waiting for the footsteps to go away. When it became silent for longer than a moment Johan peeked over the top to see he was alone again. It was a quite walk back to the side door then over the fence.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was just starting to tilt the day into the evening mood when Johan was halfway down with his dinner. He was waiting at the table he agreed to meet at. Johan dipped a fry into the puddle of ketchup on his plate before tossing in his mouth with several other fries already in there. He was peacefully eating his burger and fries while watching the news roll out on the huge screen. Then felt someone watching. Johan turned his head back to the table. It was client. He was early.

"Yo!" He greeted still chewing his full mouth. Johan could hear his mom scolding his bad manners but he was a bounty hunter eating dinner. He was still more politer than any other bounty hunter in the whole restaurant.

"You're early." Johan tried again after he swallowed.

"I like to make sure that my packages arrive on time. But it looks like you beat me to it." The client smirked. "Do you have it?" Johan nodded reaching for his bag resting on the back of his chair. But the guy stopped him before he could even reach the zipper.

"No, not here. I need to make sure it works. Besides I left the rest of your payment back there anyway." He smirked.

"Well aren't you a smart buyer." Johan joked and tossed his bag over his shoulder, before grabbing the second half the burger. He fallowed the guy from behind, leaving some cash on the counter for his meal. The guy led him through the city streets. Johan could only hope he was taking the direct route or wasn't lost as the sky turned a dark purple and the street lights came on. Even at night the city was active with music pouring out of opened door restaurants, people going in their own directions, bright lights from stores. Johan hated it. It was far too much activity at time when people should be home. That's why he would only live in suburbs. To have people around but have an untold curfew. It gave him a since of home. The client stopped in front of a rundown tech store. The sign said open and the lights were on but the only person inside was a boarding looking man reading a magazine on the counter. Johan didn't think he heard them come in.

"Hey!" The client slapped the counter snapping the man out of his trance with a startle. "The part came in." He motioned his head at Johan. The guy at the counter gave Johan a quick look like he was afraid of him then he went over to a room that said back storage and unlocked it. Johan fallowed the two into the room then down a set of stairs to the basement. But it didn't look like basement back home in the twenty first century. This one looked more like an inventor's lab that got slapped in the middle of 1990's office building. The walls were a nauseating shade of beige with the old cubicles. The client took a seat at one of the cubicles pulling something out of the drawer. He started messing with it with some tools on his desk.

"So you're Geo Advervent." His partner looked at him. Johan looked back at him, sizing him up. Then he looked back at the client ignoring his comment.

"The part." The client looked back over his chair, his arm and hand bent out, gesturing for the item. Johan pulled out the box from his bag and handed it over. He was forced to wait till the client was sure the part worked. When he smiled that's when his partner pulled out a white envelope from inside a drawer. Johan opened it and did a quick count making sure all of it was there. He stuffed the envelope in the bag and glance at the device in the ex-client's hand. It looked just like an Elucidator! But this one was different. This one was bigger than the others and it had a gold line enclosed by two thin black lines along the edges. It was strange they had one at all since time travel was now impossible, turning all Elucidators useless.

"Is that an Elucidator?" Johan asked. The man in the chair smiled and turned around.

"This isn't just an Elucidator! It's an Alpha Elucidator! This has the ability to travel into Damaged Time. It puts all other Elucidators in shame. There is not another Elucidator in existence that is more powerful than this one!" He stood up completely excited. Johan could feel his heart swell up with so much hope he thought it just might burst. An Elucidator with no limits on it! That alone was a rare treat back in the past. He could go back stop this mess from happening. Katherine, Chip, Andrea and all the other kids would be back the twenty first century and back to their normal selves. Sure he would have to go back to be thirteen and have his voice bounce up and down but it was worth it. He could save JB and his parent! _I can go home!_

"You guys need to test it out right? I'll be your guinea pig. Heck! I'll even do it for free." Johan had to force him not to sound excited. The two men looked at each other. Johan was already thinking of more arguments he should go if they said no.

"Alright." The ex-client nodded and gave him the Elucidator. As if it could read his mind everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

But now he had no idea when or where he was going. He didn't even know if there were new restrictions because he was traveling through Damaged Time.

"Can you take me to the nearest time hallow? And will I be able to get out if I do go?" Johan asked it. **YES.** It flashed in his hand.

"Alright let's do that." Johan said. The next thing he saw was colorless walls on all sides of him. _So what I do now? Where do I go back to?_ Does he go back to the twenty-first century to see Andrea or somewhere else?

"If you have any input on what I should do feel free to let me know?" He told the Elucidator. **I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU WANT TO DO.** Johan let it drop to his side. Then he brought it back up when he thought of something.

"Show me what happened with me and Lindbergh on the plane he took to the future." He said. Johan knew he needed to see this again but he really didn't want to see his biggest failure again. The wall in front of him changed into a view inside of the plane. Then thirteen year old him appeared sprawled on floor between the seats. Johan couldn't help but notice how young and innocent he seemed despite the ridiculous outfit. That Johan looked so hopeful, completely unaware of what would happen to him. He could feel the blood race through his body as he watched the younger him get up. Johan kept constantly forcing his head back to look at the screen but his mind was refusing to let him. His thumb was hovering over the stop button on the Elucidator. He got glimpses of him hurrying towards the restroom at the back of the plane, then he came out once it was clear. Johan smashed his thumb into the stop button and the screen went back to being a wall. He fell to his knees with tears threatening to spill over. He couldn't do it; he just couldn't pull himself to watch the worst failure he'd ever made – the worst mistake in all of history. Never had he felt so alone before. The walls started becoming prison walls. This time hallow had now become a personal prison cell. He punched the floor with all anger and pain flowing into it.

"That's wasn't how it was supposed to happen!" Johan screamed letting the tears go. He grabbed his hair, tossed his head back and let out another shout. Johan allowed himself to let out all the emotions he'd feeling for the past years. So badly he wanted Katherine to slap him and tell him to snap out of it. But the thought of her only made the tears come out harder and faster. Johan gritted his teeth and did it for her. It stung but the crying stopped.

"I already learned crying isn't going to fix any of this." He said standing back up drying his face with his sleeve. "So what can I do that will fix it?" _After all I've been through I know I can do this!_ His grip tightened around the Elucidator with a new found determination. _Is there some way I can force Lindbergh?_ Then what? The first time around he never got close enough to do anything. A new question crossed his mind: how could he do this? He was already there when he tried to talk him to change his mind. _But I never actually got to talk to him!_

"Can I enter the moment Lindbergh sends my thirteen self away?" He asked. **YES.** Johan couldn't remember the last time been this happy. He had a chance to do something but what? He thought about how his younger self would just jump in then think. Even after he all been through time travel he was still a bit rash. Becoming a bounty hunter, no longer gave him that option. One miss step could cost everything. _I'll have to convince him, but if I can't I'll do it by force._

"Alright take me there." Johan said then everything went black for a moment. When he landed all he could tell was he was in a small room. His legs and body were bent so his side could lay on the floor. _Does time sickness get better as you get older?_ Johan wondered. He blinked a few times clearing his head. Then he recognized where he was. It was the small bathroom at the back of the plane. This must be right after he left the first time around. _Alright time to get going._ He stood up and slid the Elucidator in his back pocket. He yanked the door open, ready to do whatever it took to get his old life back. The hall was clear. At the very end was the door that lead to the cockpit. He was just about there when he saw someone was a sleep in a seat. Johan instantly recognized the person as Katherine as a baby. _So Hodge kept you on the plane._ He carefully picked her up. The thoughts of who this went down before raced around in his head but he shook the memories aside. _That's not going to happen this time!_ Johan opened the door, his eyes never leaving the pilot's seat. Lindbergh turned his head and gave a confused expression.

"Who are you?" He asked. Johan took the co-pilot's seat.

"I can tell you whom I'm not. I'm not your son. I'm Johan Skidmore." Johan stared directly at him. It was scary at how foreign his own name sounded to him. He'd been using his fake name so much that it felt like it was becoming a part of him.

"You look older than before." Lindbergh turned his attention out the window.

"That's because I just spent two years in the future." He explained.

"Don't worry you won't remember any of this once we get you back to your right age." Lindbergh said completely monotone. Johan shook his head. He needed a new approach.

"What will it take to convince you that I am not your son?" Johan asked. Lindbergh stayed silent. Johan pulled the Elucidator out of his pocket taking a good long look at it rethinking about his plan. But he sighed it off.

"You're a smart man." Johan started like the way he would with a client, "Take this Alpha Elucidator and go check any time or do any test that has no bias to prove it." He handed the Elucidator for him to take. Lindbergh eyed the device then him but he did take the Elucidator.

"Send the boy back to the airfield so I can meet him there!" He pointed the Elucidator at him then again everything went to black.

"Looks like I'm still going to be a bounty hunter. This time just in a different era." Johan muttered to a sleeping Katherine. In her sleep she whined and flapped her arms against his chest.

"I'll protect you. I promise." He whispered as the bright lights speed towards them.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a crying sound. All he could sense was his arms were folded over something on his chest. The time sickness faded and it was Katherine crying. He was holding her too tightly. As he loosened his grip the crying slowed then stopped. When he stood up he could see the shack that was an office. Johan remembered the time he found Angela after he got back from the airport before Gary and Hodge landed the plane, and found kid JB inside looking broken and distant. There were reporters at the gates shouting. But there was another sound, this one was more distinct. A plane with Lindbergh flying it. As he landed reporters rushed through the gates running for the plane. The reports bombarded Lindbergh with question after question. All Johan could do was stare at him unsure of what emotion to express.

"I'll answer all your question in a few minutes if you wait at the gate." Lindbergh told them. The guards started ushering him away to. Lindbergh raised a hand and stopped them,

"I'll give this boy an autograph and send him on his way." The guards nodded then went back to the gate to keep the rally bunch in check.

"You believe me?" Johan asked. Lindbergh gave him a hard look like he was trying to figure him out.

"Yes, I took your advice and decided to do my own test. I needed an untainted sample so I went back to your home in the twenty-first century. And you were right. Although I would have been proud to have called you my son." He said after a moment of silence. _You wouldn't be saying that if you knew about my failure and what it's responsible for._

"Anyway I want to give you something." Lindbergh went back to the plane and came back with a baby in each arm.

"Who are they?" Johan asked.

"Mr. Gary and Hodge." He said laying them down on the ground. Johan stared at them in complete bafflement.

"You turned them into babies?" Johan couldn't suppress his surprise.

"With your help. And this." Lindbergh pulled a razor out of his pocket and handed it to him. The razor had a two black and one gold line striped around it. This was the Alpha Elucidator. This also meant the plane was the one Gary and Hodge wanted to send all thirty-six kids to the future with. He stopped it but he couldn't stop his mind from thinking, _at what cost?_

"So what do I do now?" He asked.

"That's all up to you. Now if you excuse me I do believe my wife will be labor soon with our second son." Lindbergh smiled softly at him then walked toward the gate. Now the fate of all thirty-six kids was in his hands. Johan could feel the weight on his shoulders. He looked down at Katherine for an answer but she had a blank look in her eyes. He never had to face a decision like this when he was a bounty hunter.

"I can't believe it. I missing being a bounty hunter." Johan chuckled half heartily. Katherine gave him another blank stare. _What do I do now?_ He thought miserably. Katherine started squirming and whimpering. If he didn't do something soon she would full on cry, then Gary and Hodge would start crying as well. And that certainly wouldn't help him think.

"Can you get three self-serve baby bottle with the correct milk?" He asked. Bottles appeared in each of the babies mouth's. They drank greedily.

"While you're at it can you tell me what to do with the plane. To fix time." Johan questioned the Elucidator. **I DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWER FOR THAT. I'M JUST A MACHINE. IT'S UP TO YOU.** _Great! Thanks!_ He scoffed in his head. Katherine finished the bottle was now banging it against his chest like she was board of waiting. _If I was on that plane what would I want?_

"I would want to go home. Live the life in the twenty-first century." He muttered to himself.

"Send it to the site of the time crash." Johan told the Elucidator his voice full of confidence. The plane instantly vanished and someone stood exactly where it was. A person Johan thought he would never see again. It was JB as an adult. Fully sane JB, a person he missed so terribly.

"JB!" He shouted, crashing into the guy giving a hug without smashing Katherine. Johan could feel JB's eyes go wide.

"Johan!" JB stammered pulling back to look at him. He forgotten that JB had no idea he spent two years in the future.

"Johan what happened? You're supposed to be thirteen!" JB said worried. The happiness and excitement fizzled out of him.

"That's…a long story." Johan avoided making eye contact.

"How old are you?" JB asked.

"Fifteen." Johan stilled refused to make eye contact. Then he noticed JB was holding a baby of his own.

"Who's that?" He looked down at the lump wrapped in a sheet. JB angled his arm so he could the face. It was a face he could never forget, because it was him.

"You brought my younger self here! After all I went through to fix everything!" Johan nearly shouted.

"Johan, this is the same baby Gary and Hodge gave you but this isn't you. This is your identical twin." JB said softly trying to calm him down. Suddenly the face became so foreign. _A brother? I have a brother? An identical brother?_ For some reason it was so hard to get thought into his head. He didn't know if it was because he was so against the idea or if it was because he became accustom to living alone.

"Your parents are going to name him Jordan." JB continued. Johan gave a disgusted face. It defiantly wasn't the name he would have chosen. It was too much like how he people would ask Sam the boy or the girl or two people named Taylor that were in one of his classes.

"You were originally Claude and Clyde so it could've been worse." JB shrugged. Johan didn't want to know which one he was. As far as he was concerned two identities were too much for him, he didn't need a third in the mix. Besides they were both terrible to him. There was a thud when a bottle fell out of either Gary or Hodge's mouth when they dozed off. But it was loud enough to startle him. JB looked down at his own razor and when he looked back up he held up one finger asking him to give him a second. Maybe he blinked but the next instant he saw JB his arms were empty.

"So what happens now? I get my life and he get his?" Johan asked. JB gave him a hard look.

"Johan, when you sent that plane to the crash site all dimensions that were created were fused together." He said.

"Meaning." Johan was afraid of how JB was answering.

"Everyone will remember both you and Jordan always being there." JB replied softly.


	7. Chapter 7

Johan tried to put a hand to his head and control his breathing. But he couldn't be sure with the numbness where his hand was.

"Oh I hate time sickness! Hate it! Hate it!" Katherine moaned. Johan opened his eyes to see his was sitting in Dad's favorite recliner chair. Katherine was sprawled out on the floor probably exactly where she was kidnapped from. There was a broken candle stick on the ground next to the mantle. He was home. _I can't believe it! I'm home!_ Johan felt his heart swell with happiness and pure joy. Sure he was two years older than he should be but they would get that to work out. He could feel tears form behind his eyes wanting to come out and see the sight for themselves. Johan lifted himself out of the seat testing his legs

"Katherine is that you? Did Mom bring you home because you were sick too? I call dibs on the big TV! I still get to watch whatever I want to, right Mom? I was sick first!" A voice ringed out sounding exactly like his when he was thirteen. A boy swung around the corner and stood exactly where Johan thought he was when Lindbergh first showed up.

"W-who are you?" He asked. Johan studied him. He looked just like he did two years ago.

"Jordan, Johan. Johan, Jordan. You two got to stop pretending you don't know each other. You're practically the same person! That's why you get along." Katherine still said from the floor. _Maybe if I was thirteen still._ She must still be getting over the time sickness if she hasn't saw him yet. He turned to look at her so she could see him clearly. She stood back on her feet somehow still not noticing him yet. But when she did see him her jaw dropped.

"Wait a minute! Johan!" She said completely surprised. He let her study him for a moment.

"What happened to you?" Katherine raised her voice just under a shout. Before he got a chance to answer there was a loud screech of breaks outside the house. The front door slammed open and two kids plowed their way in pulling Jordan towards him and Katherine. Before he knew it they were in a family group hug. The two teens looked just like his kid parents as he last left them. He spotted Angela giving him a shocked face off to the side.

"I thought you would change back." Johan stammered. _It still isn't over?!_

"We couldn't wait. We had to make sure all three of were safe first. Oh, Johan…Jordan…Katherine…" Kid Mom said breathlessly. Apparently both kid Mom and kid Dad were so anxious to get to the hug they haven't really seen him. Johan broke the hug by taking a step back. Then they saw him. And their jaws dropped.

"Wait! Is that you Johan?" Mom asked. Johan nodded subtly. Dad squinted at him with his mouth still open looking he was about to saying something.

"How old are you?" Katherine asked carefully.

"Fifteen." He replied. Then she spun her head to stare at Mom and Dad.

"And what happened to you? I see what happened. Just how bad did Johan ruin time?" She asked no in particular.

"Actually Katherine Johan fix time. He _saved_ everyone." Angela answered. _But did I?_ He questioned. At that moment Jordan fell to the floor.

"Jordan!" Katherine shouted kneeling down next to him.

"Katherine relax he just fainted. That's all." He told her. She didn't respond and kept kneeling over him, calling his name.

"Why don't we all go into the kitchen so I can explain." He suggested. Katherine stayed right next to Jordan. He explained everything from the time crash to getting the letters to the adoption conference setup. Katherine and his' trips through time. He purposely left out some of the near death moments but he did tell them about getting shot in the Soviet Union.

"You got shot!" Mom sounded absolutely horrified. _And that was nothing compared to what I've been through in the past two years._ He continued ignoring her outburst but he completely skipped his failure and his time in the future. There were two new voices in the den. He recognized them as Chip and JB. And was Jordan awake? Is that why he heard a faint third voice? A few moments later JB, Chip and Katherine walked in.

"Alright Jordan's gone back to bed." Katherine sighed.

"That's for the best." Johan muttered. He could feel JB studying him. Johan meet his gaze to see they were nearly the same height now.

"There's something I don't get. The last time I saw you in the time hallow you were thirteen now your fifteen. How?" JB asked. Johan felt himself shut out when he turned his head to avoid the sight of him all together.

"Johan come on! This is crucial information! It could dictate what we do next!" JB raised his voice slightly. Before Johan could realize what he was doing; he grabbed JB by his collar and slammed his back against the wall, staring at him directly in the eyes.

"Dictate? Dictate! All I ever wanted since the begging was answers! But you wouldn't even give me that! And now you expect just to give you what you want? You couldn't even begin to understand half of what I've been through!" He said harshly so badly wanting to shout but didn't. JB's shocked expression brought him back. What was he doing?! JB was his friend. The only person who could now relate with. He let go and backed up.

"JB I'm sorry." Johan looked at him just long enough to apologize.

"No worries. I shouldn't have come on so strong." JB sighed rubbing his collar bone. They walked back to the island, each of them staying to a different edge.

"Wait! Johan you said what you lived through. So your aging happened normally?" Katherine asked breaking the tense silence. Johan looked away for a second before looking back and sighed.

"Yes. I've spent two years in the future." He answered.

"Two years?!" JB looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"What happened?" Mom asked almost excited. Johan shook his head in dismay.

"Johan please! We need to know what happened." JB pleaded. He opened his mouth but when no words came out he closed it again. Johan hated thinking about what happened. He couldn't even watch it in the time hallow, so how could he tell it?

"All you need to know is Gary and Hodge won. They got all thirty-five babies and Katherine to be adopted in the future. But they also created endless Damaged Time, rendering all Elucidators useless. Until I stumble across this." Johan pulled out the Alpha Elucidator from his pocket. "It's called the Alpha Elucidator. It was made so it could travel through Damaged Time."


	8. Chapter 8

"And you really don't remember living with Jordan?" Katherine asked quietly. Johan shook his head.

"I still can't believe it…I feel bad for him. Do we really have to keep him the dark?" She sounded almost sad."Katherine we already have enough to deal with without Jordan." JB said through gritted teeth. Johan zoned as the others talked about Damaged Time and Lindbergh. _I don't get it. I'm back with my family so why aren't I happy? Why do I feel so…lonely?_ He was shocked by this revolution. _How can I be lonely? I'm with the people I care about._

"Noooo!" JB groaned looking down at the Elucidator.

"I'll take care of it." He muttered. Johan snapped back to attention. How much had he miss? JB disappeared then almost instantly he heard him growl in the next room. Johan looked around the corner to see him pull Jordan out from under the china cabinet.

"How much did you hear?" He growled.

"Elucidators. Lindbergh…Time travel. And…There are bunk beds in my room" Jordan babbled.

"Bunk beds? Really?" Katherine said walking behind JB.

"Didn't our sons always have bunk beds?" Dad squinted. Johan sighed with his temper becoming short. This was more infuriating than clients that gave the most explicit details ever when they wanted him to get an item. And when Johan tried to shut them up they got mad. That was how he lost some clients before.

"This is the last thing we should be worrying about!" He said. JB nodded,

"He's right." Then he grabbed Jordan's arm and directed him to the stairs. "I know this is a difficult time for you, Jordan, but remember, you're sick. You're going back to sleep, and later you'll just remember that you were delirious, and-".

"Don't do that to my son," Mom said ripping JB's hand off of Jordan. She crossed her arms and stared down JB.

"You may think you're in charge here, because you're then only one who's an adult right now, and you know more about time travel than the rest of us. But this is still our house-my, uh, husband's and mine – and there are house rules. It's not fair for you to lie to Jordan like that and make him think he's just imagining things. I won't allow it!" Mom sounded furious.

"Yeah. What she said." Dad crossed his arms too.

"Nobody messes with the Skidmore family." Katherine giggled. Johan couldn't help but huff, getting all the attention.

"It's not fair to Jordan?! Was it fair for Katherine and the other kids to be taken to the future to be adopted? Was it fair for me to live two years there? Time was _never_ fair! It never was! Life's not fair! So forgive for saying that I'm with JB on this. I don't even think you two should be in on this." He said sounding like his bounty hunter self. Everyone gave him blank stare. Katherine looked like he just confessed to murder.

"Besides he probably heard so much we might as well tell him everything." Katherine said carefully.

"JB, maybe some of the damage can't be contained. Maybe it's not even damaged." Angela said softly. Johan thought it was best to keep his mouth shut for a while.

"Sometimes when your troops complain against you, it's not because they're being insubordinate, It's because you're wrong." Chip said then leaned in close like he was sharing a big secret. "Ruler to ruler, I'll tell you, sometimes you have to give people _some_ of what they're asking for, lest they seize power for themselves." He forgot he was still talking medieval in this time. Johan really had to concentrate on not rolling his eyes and grabbing his forehand. When he was working for who really irked him, he would normally try to remember just the important parts. JB let out a dramatic sigh.

"Okay, okay. Jordan can come back into the kitchen with us. But there are some questions I'm not answering for anybody." JB said. Johan avoided everyone's gaze as they walked back in by looking at the kitchen table. Instead of four like he remembered, there was five chairs. He looked back to see JB glaring at Jordan.

"How did you know I was in the dining room? I didn't make any noise." Jordan asked. Mom and Dad had the same confused looked on their faces. Johan traded glances with Chip, Katherine, and Angela.

"That's something you should know about time travel. People from the future can see pretty much anything we do. Anytime." Katherine explained.

"That's creepy," Mom said hunching up her shoulders and started shivering. "Why isn't that illegal?"

"It typically is in connection with the recent past." JB said in a soothing tone. "But-"

"I'm confused." Dad complained in a whinny voice. "JB wasn't in the future. He was standing right here with the rest of us. I didn't hear Jordan make any noise. How _did_ JB know he was out of his room?"

"His Elucidator told him. That thing that looks like a cell phone. He got a message from the future." Katherine answered. That's when Johan thought of something important,

"Wait! You're personal Elucidator works now?" JB scrunched his face together.

"Um yea. Mostly anyway." He looked at the Elucidator in his hand. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I thought everything would still be in Damaged Time and only the Alpha Elucidator would work." Johan shared. Mom, Dad, and Jordan had blank looks on their faces again.

"Maybe we can limit the explanations to only the information that Jordan – and for that matter, Linda and Michael – absolutely need." JB muttered gesturing towards them. "They're not going to travel through time ever again, so they won't need to know about Elucidators."

"But it sounds like Elucidators and time travel shaped our lives – and our family." Mom argued in a steely voice. "Don't we need to know about them to understand our past? What's? The saying? 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'?". That sounded like adult Mom alright. JB moved back to the island standing right next to him.

"Are your parents always this pesky?" JB whispered just loud enough for him to hear. Johan looked at the group for a second.

"Yea." He whispered back.

"You can't expect them not to have questions." Chip sounded trying to be a peacemaker between the two sides. "I mean, even I'm confused, and I've been to other centuries! That separate dimensions with Johan and Jordan – how did that work? They were both in the same dimension back in the nineteen thirties, right?" _You forgot my future dimension too._ JB sighed and leaned heavily against the counter.

"Let's just say for simplicity sake that Johan is thirteen, like he should be. Johan and Jordan, like typical identical twins, were born in the same dimension. There _was_ only one dimension when they were born, more than eighty years ago. Time split when they were kidnapped from history and-"

"No, no, no, no, no." Jordan interrupted. "I don't know about that Johan kid, but I was _not_ born more than eighty years ago. I'm thirteen! I'm not like them." He gestured wildly at their kid parents. "I've never been any older than this! I've never been kidnapped, and I wasn't ever in 'history', and, and…I don't have an identical twin!" Johan stayed silent and waited for more, but when nothing came, he took the floor.

"Are you done with your little tantrum?" He asked. Mom dropped her mouth in shock.

"Johan Skidmore! Don't talk to your brother that way!" She scowled. He raised an eye as if saying _What? What could you do?_

"It's wired, in some ways you're the same but in other ways you're a completely different person." Katherine said scanning him.

"And you haven't changed a bit! Thank goodness." He muttered the last part.

"In your dimension, us kids and Katherine were sent to the future and adopted…Were we happy?" Chip asked cautiously. Johan thought back to the afternoon when he watched two year old Katherine playing with her adopted parents. She was smiling and giggling.

"As far as I could tell, yea." He sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

The room became an eerie silence. Johan sighed again and started over.

"Jordan the reason you don't remember the nineteen-thirties is because you were kidnapped when you were around one year old. They unaged you and brought you here. They kidnapped me and quite a few others." Jordan snapped JB a glare.

"It wasn't me. It was two guys named Gary and Hodge." JB defended. "Like Johan said they were collecting famous kids from history to sell to wealthy people in the future."

"I'm famous!" Jordan's jaw dropped a bit. Johan crossed his arm in effort not to do something he'd regret. He turned to face Mom and Dad. "And you paid time-traveling _kidnappers_ to get me."

"We didn't know anything about the time travel or the kidnapping until-" she glanced at the kitchen clock. "Until about an hour ago." Johan started zoning out again and ended up staring at Jordan. Did he have the same friends he did? Did he have the same experience he did? Well other than living in the future and traveling through time. Johan started feeling almost proud of what he accomplished as a bounty hunter. _You may be a lot like me, but I'm also Geo Advervent! One of the best unknown bounty hunters in the future._ He came back from his mind when Jordan swiped his hand across the air, as if he was trying to wipe the feeling the room.

"Let's go back to…am I famous?" Jordan asked.

"Oh yeah, that's right – Johan, if you went back to the nineteen thirties, did you find out your original identity? Yours and Jordan's, I guess, if you're twins. Are you royalty like me and Alex and Daniella and Gavin? The secret child of someone famous like Emily? Or someone who only became famous in the future, like Brenden and Antonio? Or-" Chip started firing off questions so fast he had to interrupt to answer.

"We're nobodies. We're just some kids our parents didn't want and dropped us off at an orphanage. Where we're supposed to die of malnutrition. The only reason Gary and Hodge wanted us was to fool people that one of us was Lindbergh's kid." Johan said completely emotionless.

"But all the kids on the plane were famous!" Chip protested. Johan shook his head,

"Neither of us is famous. Just used as pawns." Jordan asked about the plane and Angela explained it to him. And when she was starting to get confused JB corrected her. JB checked his Elucidator and got frustrated because of something with the Elucidator Lindbergh was using. Johan stopped listening again and headed for the fridge. He opened it to see what was inside. Leftovers, fruits, veggies, uncooked meats, milk. _Don't we have anymore – ah there it is!_ Johan pulled out a Root Beer from the crowd of cans in the back. Katherine suggested to make a Venn diagram and shoved past him to get to the junk drawer. He cracked it open and took a sip. The taste reminded him he didn't finish his fries back at the restaurant. Johan leaned on the counter next to fridge behind JB and glance over his shoulder at the page. She drew four circles that interlocked. He couldn't read what it said from this distance but Kathrine said it out loud for him to know. Johan thought he heard his name but he quickly dismissed it and continued sipping. He managed to control himself not to chuckle when JB had to reset the Elucidator because he couldn't connect properly with Hadley. The thought of Hadley increased his awareness of his bag. _No matter how this goes I have to visit the future one more time to give Hadley his money back._ He caught Jordan's movement to the Elucidator in JB's hand. Johan dropped his drink and grabbed onto JB's shoulder and Jordan's arm. Everything turned jet black.

"Jordan this is dangerous!" Katherine shouted. _Yea no kidding._

"At least send Mom and Dad back." He argued.

"Mom and Dad are with us?" Jordan asked. Dad moaned in response,

"Ugh what if you throw up out here?"

"Jordan give me back the Elucidator!" JB scowled. In the low light Johan could see JB wasn't going to wait. He tore the Elucidator from Jordan's grip and started messing with it.

"It's still broken!" JB shouted concerned.

"Try using mine." Johan wrapped his arm Jordan's so he could free his hand to grab the Alpha Elucidator. But he was struggling to get out of his pocket. He couldn't let go of JB or Jordan so he jerking one of them with every move he made.

"Johan hurry!" Katherine sounded panicked. The lights began to glow brighter and brighter. When he thought his fingers brushed against the edge, it was already too late. This was part of the trip were his body felt like it was being torn completely apart.

Johan took several deep breaths before attempting to open his eyes. He did a mental check of everything. _Wait a minute I can feel my muscles._ They felt tired and useless but could move them. JB shook his grip off and started to sit up. Katherine and the others moaned beside him. He slowly lifted his upper body off the floor and rubbed a crick in his neck. Katherine, Jordan and they're parents were still hanging onto each other. As if they were some overgrown k kindergarteners on they're to class from recess. Then he looked around. They were defiantly back in the future. It seemed like a science lab with hovering screens, clean tables and counter tops. Was it just him or was this place familiar. Something moved in the far corner of his left eye. Johan turned to get a better view but what he saw instantly made him grab JB's and Jordan's arm again.

"Get us out of here!" He shouted. The lab walls disappeared and were replaced with colorless ones. The Elucidator brought them to a time hallow. Dad was amazed that he felt so much better so suddenly. Katherine explained to him, Mom and Jordan about time hallows briefly.

"Johan why'd you do that?" JB asked more curious than mad.

"We were in danger." He explained.

"What are you talking about? That room was empty." Jordan said. Johan shook his head,

"No someone I really don't like was there."

"Who? Gary and Hodge?" Dad asked sounding pumped up. He even had his hands into fists.

"No. It was Second." Katherine answered. Jordan and Mom started looking pale.

"Speaking of which." Johan clinched his own hand in a fist, spun around on his heels, and slammed his fist into the person-standing-behind-him's jaw. Second fell back into a sitting up position on the floor. Mom gasped. Johan wasn't sure if it was the surprise of Second or the fact he punched him. Second placed a hand on the spot where Johan hit him and laughed. Johan knew it wasn't possible to feel pain in a time hallow but it still felt good.

"Now that was exhilarating! How'd you know I was behind you?" Second asked harmlessly.

"Practice." Johan growled.


	10. Chapter 10

Second laughed again and stood back up.

"I guess in hindsight, that wasn't the smartest thing to do. But I just couldn't help myself." He sighed killing his laughter. Then he shifted his gaze towards JB.

"JB it has been too long!" Second smiled, "Or has it?" JB glared at him never taking his sight off him

"You lair! You said that you would stay in your own time!" Katherine shouted at him. She took a step forward in an attempt to keep Mom, Dad, and Jordan behind her.

"Aww. Trying to keep your family safe? How sweet!" Second smiled at her then he turned to face Jonah. "I'm a bit surprises _that_ wasn't your first instinct. But I suppose that you have been through a lot in the past two years that would rearrange how you act in situations like this." What did he mean by that? Did Second think that he didn't care about his family as much as he did in the past?

"Shut up!" He shouted at him. He tended to hit him again but JB grabbed his arm restraining him. Second waved off his outburst making him madder.

"Anyway, I'm sure you can forgive me for breaking my promise. The actions of Gary and Hodge have threatened my version of time as well. We can benefit from helping each other." He looked at Katherine.

"But you helped them!" Katherine argued.

"As to use a quote that has stand against the test of time: Am I brother's keeper? And I say: No am not." Second gestured towards himself.

"You're quoting the Bible. That's what Cain said after he killed his own brother, and he tried to pretend he didn't know where he was. But he _was_ responsible. He was guilty." Mom said. She whipped her head side to side gazing frantically at Johan and Katherine.

"Is this man a murderer? Do we have to worry about that too?" She asked sounding scared. Johan kept quite not sure what to say. He thought about that guy they saved on Hudson's ship. Wyodose was it? Something like that. At first they he and Katherine were convinced that Second killed him, but over the past two years he began to question it.

"Oh I assure you that I mean none of you harm. There's another person here that you want to keep that eye on." Second smirked. Johan struggled harder against JB's grip but his grip was too strong on him. "I could have immobilized all you of you the second you realized I was here, but I didn't."

"Why didn't you?" JB glared over Johan's shoulder.

"Because I need you to trust me. More specifically I need Johan to trust me." Second answered. He wanted him to trust him! Second was one of the last people he trusted. Johan scoffed.

"That's a laugh! You haven't given me much reason to trust you in the past." He glared."Trust me Johan when I say: the only way any of us are walking out of this, is if we work together." For once Second looked deadly serious. It was kind of serious that could not be faked. And he met and done a lot of acting over the two years. _Second is really serious about all of this. And if what he says is true…_ Johan looked back at JB for some advice he but looked just as uncertain as he felt.

"Fine! But you play by our rules! Got it?" He said. Katherine started to shout at him.

"Agreed." Second smiled, then it faded. "I most warn you, because of the huge crisis we're facing, time traveling is a bit a problem. You'll get to the right time but not always _exactly_ where you want to be." The room stayed silent absorbing all of this.

"Ok so what do we do now?" Mom asked.

"We go back and explain what's going on to Chip and Angela." Johan said. "More heads the better." JB nodded in agreement. Johan pulled out the Alpha Elucidator. Second gave it a quizzed look. _Yea I bet you didn't expect this!_

"You stay here." JB said sternly towards Second. He merely raised his hands in surrender. The white turned to black.

"Johan are you nuts?" Katherine shouted at him again.

"Perhaps a bit." Johan shrugged.

"But trusting Second!" She argued.

"Sometimes you have to trust your enemies. At least for a certain amount of time." He defended. Suddenly there was a hard tug, like two people pulling and pushing them to the side.

"What's happening?" Dad shouted scared.

"Someone's forcing us off our path towards someplace else!" JB answered. The ripping sensation took hold with the blinding white light.

He took deep slow breaths focusing on just getting his clear. Johan opened to his eyes to see darkness and stone. He pushed himself back onto his feet. They were in some kind alley. But he couldn't recognize what year they were in. Dad, Mom and Katherine got up faster than Jordan did. _Wait where is JB? Oh there he is._ He found JB standing in his blind spot messing with his Elucidator. Dad rubbed his neck while Mom grunted.

"Where, when are we?" Katherine asked still sounding a bit sick. Johan looked at JB for an answer but he was glaring at the Elucidator. There was a sound of footsteps approaching them. A person stepped out of the heavy darkness and Johan just couldn't believe it. He was roughly the same age and height as Johan. His blonde hair was dulled by the low light but his sharp, demanding brown eyes were unmistakable. The dark blue shirt and jeans blended with the shadows. But his green shirt makes sure he was still able to be seen. A white cat-squirrel hung on his shoulder. It has a thick brown head covering with horns that resembled a triceratops.

"It's been awhile hasn't it Ge-o?" He said pronouncing each syllable of his fake name."Who?" Jordan asked confused, but everyone ignored him."Raviant?" Johan asked in disbelief. As far as friends go with the job of bounty hunting, they were few and far between, but Raviant was one of them. They've done jobs together that would have killed either of them if they did it alone. As much as he was a friend he was still a rival. "What are you doing here? Wait let me guess! A job…So who's paying?" Raviant chuckled as his response.

"Does the name Rathbone mean anything to you?" He asked casually. Johan knew his eyes went big when Raviant chuckled again.

"That must be a very pretty check he's offering." Johan felt himself go back into the old swing.

"Very. He wants the Elucidator you have and you. You know if we play are cards right we both can benefit from this." Raviant offered. Before Johan would have jumped at the chance but now it was too personal.

"Sorry to say but this time it's just too personal." He said completely monotone. Raviant nodded slightly with a small smile on his face. He reached in his pocket and tossed what was it at Johan. Johan caught it with both hands. It was a plastic and metal wrist band that was about inch wide and was a dark silver color. A bold 'V' was etched on it, on the other side was real initials personally hand engraved. Johan couldn't believe it. It was his Electro Shot, but he lost it months ago during a job. Normally these were just a children's toy but his was upgraded for a bounty hunter's purpose.

"To show no hard feelings." Raviant explained. This really wasn't anything personal. It was just a job! The squirrel-cat opened it mouth wide and there was a quick flash of green.


	11. Chapter 11

"Katherine! Look out!" Johan tackled her to the ground. There was the sound of an explosion behind them. Someone screamed, but Johan couldn't tell if it was Mom, Dad or Johan with all of them being thirteen. He got up to a kneel and tapped the 'V' on the band. It instantly popped up out of the bracelet and had a yellow electric current running between the ends. Johan pulled back on the current and an electric ball began to form the father he pulled it back. He let it go and the ball went flying towards Raviant. But he bent his body backwards and his shot hit the brick wall behind him. The squirrel-cat's tail twitched behind its head and body.

"Run!" Johan shouted letting out another shot. It hit the wall in a frenzy of sparks. When he turned around, he was relieved that they took his advice and made a break for it. Katherine took charge and made a hard right when they ran at the end of the alley. Johan instantly knew where they were when he turned around the corner. They were near the edge of town close the metal refinery. He knew if he could Raviant in there, he could lose him. Besides a few night owls mingling about the sidewalks and streets were empty. Most were probably in the lit up restaurants and stores. Johan snuck a glance back to see Ravaint had just came out of the alley and looking directly at him. The corners of his lips were bent into a small smile. Johan knew that look. It meant: he knew this was going to be fun. Johan could feel the corners of his lips bend into a smile. In a strange personal way, this was going to be fun. Challenging each other, like a game of cat and mouse. He pulled up next to Katherine.

"Kathrine, I know this town. Let me lead." Johan said between breaths. She started to fall back a bit.

"We should head for the Time Agency HQ!" JB shouted from somewhere behind.

"JB you're just going to have to trust me!" He called back, mainly because he didn't even know if the Time Agency has still operating. Johan turned them down onto a busier street. He slowed them down to a stop so they could catch their breaths. Johan leaned against a wall watching Mom, Dad, Katherine, and Jordan puff and paint. JB was the only besides him who wasn't tired or out of breath.

"Ahgg! I don't remember the last time I ran like that?" Dad sounded like he was going to throw up.

"W-who was that? And why did he call you Geo?" Mom asked finally recovering.

"Raviant is a friend of mine that made here. And as for the later part, don't worry about it." Johan said.

"Johan I think any information is important at this point." JB said.

"Let's talk and walk." Johan said starting the way to the refinery. He could feel Raviant approaching. If they were running, they would be easy spot. Walking was the safest; besides it didn't look like Dad could run at the moment. He twisted the bag on his back so he could unzip it and retrieve the water bottle. Kid Dad smiled at it and started chugging as they walked.

"Ok so how did you meet a guy like that?" Katherine asked. Johan didn't answer. He couldn't without giving out information he wasn't ready to let go of yet.

"Ok! How about where we're going? Have you thought of that?" Katherine said become agitated by him.

"The metal refinery." Johan answered.

"Why would we want to go there? Is that where your base is?" Jordan asked a bit on edge.

"No. This is the closet place in town where I know I can lose Raviant." He replied. Dad let out a satisfied sigh, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and handed him back the empty bottle. Johan tucked back in and zipped it up. He led them around the edge of the city switching streets every now and again. Soon he could see the fiery glow from the refinery.

The refinery was surrounded by a metal fence. But Johan knew a spot where they could slip in easily.

"This place doesn't look safe." Mom sized up the building.

"It's been under reinnervation for over two years. But due to politics; funding has been cut short so it's taking even longer to complete." Johan explained pushing a section of the fence to the side.

"Johan are you sure about this?" JB asked seriously. Johan looked him dead in the eye and nodded once. JB still uncertain but he walked through the gap. They walked into the building. The main source of light came the glowing melted metal in the center of the building. There were a few lights above but the glow of the metal made them look dull.

"Go find a place to around the exit here. I'll go lose Raviant." Johan instructed. He could feel their eyes on his back but they did what he asked. Before he walked too far way Katherine called to him and turned around to see what she wanted.

"Johan, be careful!" She sounded concerned. He looked past her to see Mom and Dad had the same expressions.

"I'll be right back! Don't worry!" Johan flashed her a smile and a thumbs up.

Johan walked up the last flight of stairs to see that Raviant was already there. He was sitting on top of a pile of creates. And the smirking smile was still there The cat-squirrel was on all fours on the one right below Raviant, like he was his right hand man.

"Took you long enough Geo." Raviant said. Johan raised his hands in defense,

"In case you didn't notice I wasn't running with gold medal runners." Raviant chuckled a bit. "Geo you know the only reason I haven't caught you yet and collected the reward is because you're my friend." Johan nodded.

"And I appreciate that. I do! But now I need a few questions answered. Like what does Rathbone want with me and my Elucidator?" He asked. Raviant shrugged,

"He never said, but I can confirm that I'm the only one that is after you." Rathbone only hired one bounty hunter to come after him? That is wired! And unsettling. "Sooner or later I will need to turn you in. You understand don't you?" Raviant may be his friend but he was still hired to do a job. Now Johan smiled.

"I expect nothing less. That is if you can catch me!" He challenged.

"In that case. Banger?" Raviant called down to the white cat-squirrel. It jumped onto his arm, his head's armor covering Raviant's hand. His tail wrapped around the arm for support. As if he was melting Banger slowly started looking less like a creature and more of horned gauntlet. Banger was a specially made for long and close range attacks. With the glove fully formed Raviant hopped down from the pile. Johan welcomed the fight by moving his googles to cover his eyes and flicked on the Electro Shot.


	12. Chapter 12

Johan took the first move by slinging a shot at Raviant's head. He swiftly dodged it and ran directly at him. Johan barely managed to turn his body out of the way but Raviant grabbed his arm and tossed him on his back. His head banged against the hard metal floor. Johan sat up and rubbed his head.

"Now it's my turn." He whipped a trail of spit off his lip with his thumb. There was a metal barrel sitting right next to him on his left. Johan spun on his hand clockwise, hitting the barrel from behind. In his luck the barrel was empty so it was extremely light. Raviant managed to avoid the incoming barrel but Johan was right behind it, catching him off guard. He caught Raviant's throat with his arm, shoving him back. Raviant fell to the floor coughing. But Johan didn't plan to wait for him to recover. He ran over and jumped onto the railing. Finding a clear spot on the next floor below, he jumped off. This floor was cluttered with different kinds of machines and containers made of different materials. Johan switched the goggles over to the electromagnetic mode. Now it was an assortment of different colored dots. He ducked down behind a several crates next to the wall under the upper floor. His head was throbbing. A set of feet hit the cold metal floor. Johan peeked out to see a human figure made up out of red dots. He was looking the other way. Johan used that time to fire a shot at right while running to the left. But Raviant knew this trick and looked directly in his direction and took after him. Johan switched back to normal view and tore the goggles off his face to his neck. Up ahead was a plank of wood resting against the railing and a thick dangling cable. Johan ran up the plank and as the plank started tipping over the edge Johan jumped. He grabbed the cable and hung on for dear life as he began to swing. Several stories over a huge pool of molten metal. Raviant watched him with a slightly amused look on his face

"You really need some new tricks Geo." He commented. Using the last bit of momentum from the cable Johan jumped off landing safely on the other side.

"You mean something this." Johan smirked pulling back on the electric cord and released. It hit the cord swinging towards Raviant. He moved slightly to the side and released another shot fallowing the directly behind the cord. Raviant saw what he was doing and raised his arm to cover his face. The shot made a direct hit forcing him to stumble back a few steps. And when he recovered, he started chuckling. Banger turned back into a cat squirrel and took his spot on his shoulder

"Be careful out there. I doubt that I'm the only one after you…Best of luck, Johan." Johan knew his eyes must've gone big when Raviant smiled and walked away. He knew his secret and was still going to help him.

"I really own you one." Johan whispered softly.

"Johan are you alright?! We heard a lot of ruckus up there!" Kid Mom swarmed him as soon as he was in sight.

"Yea I'm fine." He responded still dazed. "Let's go. I know a place where we can get things figured out." Johan led the way out. It was a long walk to his warehouse, especially since Mom, Dad or Jordan were constantly asking questions or trying to answer someone else's. Thankfully JB was either quiet or properly answering questions.

"We're here." Johan strolled up to the door.

"You live in a warehouse!" JB was dumbstruck. Johan unlocked the door and turned on the light, letting them in.

"What? Everything's clean! Even this place is too big for me to mess up. Besides who in their right mind would rent to a fifteen year old." He joked. As everyone wondered around checking things out, Johan headed straight for the fridge.

"Anyone hungry or want anything to drink?" He offered. It felt strange offering his own family food in his own house.

"Got any soda?" Katherine asked. He reached in and tossed her a can of Mountain Dew. She looked at the label and gave him one of her _really?_ looks.

"Seriously?" Katherine lifted the can as if she was presenting something."Just don't drink it too fast!" He joked getting JB to chuckled taking a seat at the table.

"Do you have any cold medicine? I think Jordan might need it." Mom asked. Johan shrugged as he opened the medical cabinet. There was some at the very back. He tore off a section and tossed to Jordan. Jordan tore off the packaging and popped the pills in his mouth. The room became silent.

"I have a contact that keeps tabs on the huge corporations like Interchonlogical Rescue. If we're going to outsmart Rathbone and Second we need information. I'll talk to him tomorrow." Johan said.

"Not alone you're not!" Mom crossed her arms.

"Mom you don't understand! If I go with someone it will be suspicious." Johan countered.

"Wait! Are you going to talk to someone dangerous?!" Mom sounded horrified. Dangerous? Not really. Annoying? Yes!

"Mom I'm fifteen and have been living on my own for two years! I can handle myself. Besides you're thirteen!" He argued.

"Doing what exactly?!" The argument was getting loud.

"That doesn't concern you! Why do you even care?" Johan shouted.

"You're my son! Whatever happened to the sweet, innocent, polite Johan?" Mom asked.

"He died alright!" Johan shouted and the room turned dead silent. He sighed and looked away from everyone's gaze. "You want to know what I do to support myself? Fine! You win! I'm a bounty hunter, alright! I break into places, steal, risk my life for a paycheck…Gary and Hodge left that Johan as a goner and time finished him off. All that remains of him is Geo Advervent." Johan brought his voice back down.

"Johan how could you?!" Katherine scowled him in Mom's place. "After all the good we've done!"

"What was I supposed to do, Katherine? Gary and Hodge won, I was stuck here, you and the others were babies about to be sold off, everyone else was stuck in the past, no Elucidator worked, if Gary and Hodge found out I was here they would have gotten rid of me. Then where would everyone be now?" He asked then turned to look at directly and Mom and Dad. "I never said I was proud of what I've done but my life was on the line." JB sat at the table looking a bit awkward sitting in the middle of a family feud.


	13. Chapter 13

Johan sat on the roof looking at the city with the starry sky. After the confession downstairs he walked away and came up here. He wished he had a place like this in the twenty first century. How much would be different if he had a place like this? A place to sit alone and think. There was the sound of footsteps but Johan didn't look back. He knew it was JB.

"Well?" Johan asked impatient.

"You've grown a lot in the two years you were here." The words forced Johan to turn around to look at the man behind him. He was expecting a lecture. JB sat down beside him looking out at the city's lights,

"Before I met you I thought time was set in stone. Any changes made were bad. But you forced me and a lot of other people to see things differently. Do you know how many times you've cheated death? Enough to give your kid Mom a heart attack. After you and Katherine changed time several times, I stopped believing in the facts of your life. You convinced me that even the past is still in flux…I guess what I'm saying is, just give them some time. They'll come around." JB gave the lightest of smiles.

"I lied down there." Johan confessed. "I don't regret _everything_ I've done as bounty hunter. I have helped people who really needed it for free! Remember our conversations about fate and freewill? I learned something. It's impossible to separate the two. To separate yourself from them. I guess part of me always knew I was going to be a bounty hunter. The rush of it, feels…right." Johan stood up still looking at the city. "I've learned to fight, to talk my way out of dangerous situations, how to heal my wounds, how to survive by myself. I guess with of all of that I forgot how it felt to have a family. Ironic isn't it? I've spent two years trying to get back to that, only to find out I lost that part of me." Johan chuckled a little letting a single tear out.

"I remember someone once told me there is no such thing as impossible. Little did they know! You know, you're the only one I can relate to now? I can never go back to being the Johan from before." He let out a few more tears when a hand fell on his shoulder. Johan looked to see JB's sad smile.

"That's the thing about growing up. You're not supposed to stay the same. But that Johan isn't as dead as you think he is." JB said softly. Johan couldn't hold it back anymore. He caught JB in a hug let the tears freely flow. JB gave him a few pats on the back before pushing him back. Johan hitched the crying to a halt.

"Sorry." He rubbed the tears off. They sat down back down in silence enjoying the sight of the city.

The next morning everyone woke up to the sound of Johan's alarm clock. He rolled over and slapped it off. _Shower? Breakfast? Shower? Breakfast?_ He debated slipping back into his old habits. Johan rolled back over seeing everyone getting up. Katherine had slept on few pillows and his comforter. Mom claimed she wouldn't be able to sleep, but apparently she and Dad dozed off in the corner. Jordan was stirring from a top of some crates that came with the place. JB was stretching his arms above his head at the table. His chair leaned back and feet on the table.

"I'm guessing when you designed this place, you didn't consider people staying the night." Katherine grumbled.

"Are you kidding? You're the first people to stay longer than a few hours." Johan walked over to the bathroom stretching. "Hey JB can you start breakfast? I need to shower. Feel free to use anything you can find." He pushed open the door.

"Yeah. Sure." JB stood up and stretched his spine. Johan slipped in and closed the door behind him. He turned on the shower to full blast on steaming hot. After he took his clothes off he forgot he need a spare set of clothes. _They're clean enough._ He shrugged it off letting his shirt drop to the floor. The hot water was just the wakeup call he needed. Yesterday felt like pulling off back to back to back to back all-nighters. And he was finally able to wash it all away.

He came back out in the living area with his clothes warm and slightly damp and a towel in his hand. There was the smell of eggs and toast with jam. Johan walked over to the table, toweling his wet hair. His plate was next to JB on the counter. The rest of the Skidmore family took all the seats at the table forcing the two to stand. Johan draped the towel around his neck picking up the plate. It felt like ages since he ate breakfast with someone else. He managed to swallow a few bites before Mom started talking.

"You're still not going there alone." She stated. _Good morning to you too!_

"Mom! I've done this before. For two years! I can handle myself." He argued.

"Either you take someone or you're not going at all." She sounded just like her adult self. It was a good thing that he wasn't stuck with her for the past two years.

"Take me with you!" Jordan jumped in. "You were my age when you started doing this! Everyone will just think I'm either a kid trying to make it in the bounty hunter business or some kid of the street." Johan didn't want to mention that he was nearly stabbed at his first trip around Mom and Dad, mainly Mom. He shook his head trying to figure out what to say.

"What about me? You know we're the perfect team!" Katherine volunteered. While it was true that Katherine could hold her own longer than Jordan she was more likely to draw attention to herself.

"You know what? I made up my mind. I'm taking JB with me. While the rest of you stay here." Johan settled the argument. Surely JB could sit at a table without drawing attention. He didn't plan on to stay at the restaurant long anyway.


	14. Chapter 14

The restaurant was the same as it normally was. Dingy looking but clean. The news was playing on the screen either as background noise for people talking or the main entertainment for those here alone.

"This place is a dump!" JB commented quietly.

"Maybe but the jobs that come through here are great!" Johan smirked. "Now go sit down! And remember the only reason you're here is because my mom reads way too many parenting books!" He pushed towards the tables. JB sat down at an empty table acting like he was waiting for someone to show up. With the messed up hair and wrinkled clothes he looked like he belonged. Johan walked up to the counter taking a seat on a bar stool. He sat right next to a grizzled old man, whose breath and bad teeth showed he never heard of toothpaste. His white hair and beard were almost brown with all the dirt in it.

"Hey bad breath Braydon. How's it going?" Johan put on the fake charm. He was acting very protective of the cup he was holding. No one liked Braydon, he was the biggest jerk in the place. The only reason he was kept around is because somehow he always had reliable information on just about any and everything. Johan had only talked to him a few times before when it was absolutely necessary.

"What do you want goggle head?" Braydon asked snidely.

"That's not how you say hello!" Johan joked. He took a long sip of his drink then placed the empty cup on the counter. _Such a sad old man! But a sad old man with intel._

"You must really like that drink. How about I buy you another?" Johan baited. Braydon eyed him carefully but didn't object.

"Hey waiter! Another drink for the geezer here." Johan called out. First rule of the place, manners were only used when you wanted to get something. A muscled man with an apron around his waist came back and put a cup in front of Braydon. Before he could grab it, Johan snatched and slid it out of Braydon's reach on the other side of his body.

"Not so fast old man." Johan kept the cup in a firm grip. "Tell what I want to know then you can have it."

"Didn't your parents ever teach you to respect your elders?" Braydon grumbled and tried getting the cup again. Johan leaned to the side to keep the drink out of his reach.

"Yes they did. They also taught me that grabbing is rude." He pushed him back with his free hand. Braydon pulled back to his own space, letting him back up.

"I want to know about Rathbone and Interchonlogical Rescue. What are they up to?" The old man chuckled.

"My sources say that he's after some new one of a kind Elucidator. No one knows why. But if Rathbone wants it must be important. If someone were to sell it him, that person would be rich!" Braydon said excited by that last part. _Or dead_. Johan added.

"See was that too hard?" He gave him his drink. Rule number two, never show worry or fear. Johan slapped a few dollars on the table for Braydon to pay with and got up. JB caught up with as he left.

"Well?" He inquired.

"Let's put it this way. I knew we were in the dark but never realized how dark…So basically I just paid for an exclamation point for what we already knew." Johan explained.

The sun was warm and encouraged people to come outside. Everyone was minding their own business. Just a normal day in paradise.

"So what do we do now?" JB asked. Johan had no answer, that was reasonable.

"I have one, but trust me you won't like it." He dismissed it.

"Geo! Geo!" Someone in the crowd shouted his name. It was his friend and new crush Maci. She was the first non-bounty hunter friend he made here. The best and worst part was she knew nothing about who he really was.

"Geo, I haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?" She asked in her normal cheery voice.

"I've been fine, thanks for asking. This is my friend JB. JB this is my friend Maci." Johan introduced. The two exchanged greetings and shook hands.

"I glad to know Geo has another friend. For a while I was worried he didn't know how to make friends." Maci joked. Johan could feel his cheeks turn red.

"I know exactly what you mean. He can be a bit awkward." JB played along, making Maci chuckle. Johan turn even redder.

"JB!" Johan scowled embarrassed. _You are seriously not helping me here!_ Maci's shoulder length light brown hair swayed with her subtle head motions. He avoided looking at her hoping that would help with the redness. She chuckled again.

"How do you two know each other?" Maci asked. JB opened his mouth but Johan beat him to the punch,

"He's known since I was a baby." He told him to play along with his gaze.

"How do you two know each other?" JB put his hands on his hips clearly enjoying this.

"We bumped into each other at the café two years ago." Maci explained.

"Well I better get going. It was nice seeing you again Geo. I hope to see you around more! It was nice to meet you JB!" She said politely and ran off. _She wants to see me more often!_ Johan cheered. When she was out of sight JB swung a heavy arm around his shoulder.

"Johan, Johan, Johan. Whatever happened to poor Andrea?" He sounded smug.

"Dude, I've had two years to get over her." Johan replied.

"What took you so long?" Kid Mom demanded when they stepped through the door.

"We ran into one of Johan's friends." JB was smirking again. Johan elbowed him in the ribs. JB let him have his space still smirking.

"What about the whole getting info thing?" Katherine asked. JB and Johan's expression quickly turned solemn.

"Where still in the dark." Johan answered.


	15. Chapter 15

"So what are going to do now?" Jordan asked sitting on Johan's bed. Johan gave him good hard look. It was still scary to see how much they were alike. He even had the same dorky scared-unsure look. The same disheveled hair that would come back at the end of the day. Kid Mom came over and started stroking his head.

"We'll figure something out." Mom said soothingly. That would never become normal. Jordan shook his head getting her hand to retreat in the _Mom! I'm not a baby anymore!_ Kind of way. Johan could feel a knot form in the pit of the stomach. Was he really jealous of Jordan? He went over to the fridge and pull out a soda to distract him.

"Why don't we just go to the Time Agency to see if someone there can fix us?" Kid Mom suggested.

"No!" Johan shouted the moment her question was fully formed. "That is the last place we should go." But that got him thinking. He pulled out the Alpha Elucidator and everything was gone. Now only Second stood in front of them. Johan quickly slid the Elucidator in his back pocket.

"Back so soon?" He joked. Johan fist was ready to punch him again but he forced himself not to.

"Enough jokes! Tell us what we want to know! And no side stepping!" He demanded.

"Don't you mean: what _you_ want to know?" Second smirked innocently. Johan slammed Second's back to the wall, grabbing his shirt's collar.

"There's that bounty hunter side again. So aggressive." Second chuckled.

"You know what I'm capable of so don't push me." Johan increased the pressure on his collar bone. His agitation with Second was slipping out of his control. He wanted to see Second hurt after all he ever done to him and Katherine and their friends. He wanted to release his inner monster he kept a tight leash on. It never came out for long but when it did, the destruction in its wake was devastating. But not with his parents and Katherine watching. Would Jordan have the same feeling if the positions were switch? _Forget it! We may have been identical twins at one point; could have been friends even. But were too different! He'll never know what I've been through!_ It was like he said: that Johan was dead. He died in his biggest failure.

"Johan we may not like him but we need his help!" Katherine shouted at him. Johan looked at her with the corner of his eye. She was still the same annoying little sister. She hasn't changed the slightest. While he wouldn't recognize himself if his younger self stood right in front of him. He forced all his emotions to the side and let Second go.

"Now, where were we?" Second smoothed out his shirt casually. "That's right: fixing time. I'm regretful to say that the mess is bigger and worse than I originally thought. If Johan done what he needed to the first time around things would be a lot different." JB grabbed Johan's shoulder in a death squeeze keeping him in place.

"So where cleaning up Johan's mess." Jordan scoffed.

"Shut up!" Johan shouted at him. JB's nails dug into his shoulder as he tried to move.

"Johan! Jordan!" Mom scowled them. His anger and rage were starting to get out of his control. If things don't get better now, it would get ugly.

"I might be best to watch what you say around Johan. His past two years haven't been very kind to him." Second said. Johan gave him a death glare, but either he didn't see it or was just ignoring him.

"Stop trying to divide us! Just tells what we need to do." Katherine said.

"Ah! What do you want to do?" Second smile like a teacher whose kids were finally starting to get a confusing subject. Where was he going with this?

"We know that. We want Mom and Dad to be the right ages and to fix time." Jordan answered.

"Now let's go back to why this problem is happening at all." Second said.

"Time was split but came back together." Katherine shrugged like it was a stupid question.

"No, it started with Gary and Hodge's greed. When they started kidnapping kids from time." JB said.

"You're both wrong, it goes back to Rathbone. He hired Gary and Hodge to rescue endangered kids which fueled their greed." Johan corrected. Rathbone. A name he hated for so long. The true cause for all his pain…and happiest memories.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!" Second mimicked a winner's bell. "My you have learned to look at the bigger picture! So now what do you do?"

"We find out what Rathbone is really up to." Johan said catching on. He pulled out the Alpha Elucidator testing its weight in his hand. The black and gold made it quite distinguished from other Elucidators.

"JB let me see your Elucidator." Johan stretched out an open hand.

"What for?" Dad squinted in confusion.

"Rathbone wants me and the Elucidator. So let's give him just that." He explained. JB handed it to him. Johan started pushing buttons on the screen changing the settings for it take anybody's command. He messed with a few more settings before placing the Elucidators back to back. Instantly they looked identical. If he didn't deliberately keep them separate it would look impossible to tell them apart.

"When did you learn to hack T.A Elucidators?" JB asked astonished.

"You're forgetting where I come from. With continuous Damaged Time, Elucidators were totally worthless. So to pass some time I would take them apart and mess with them." Johan handed him the Alpha Elucidator. JB took it from him,

"Mind us telling us what you're planning?"

"You're just going to have to trust me." Johan sighed. "Katherine, Jordan, you're with me. The rest of you stay here." Jordan looked shocked that he wanted him to come along.

"No! You're taking us with you!" Mom protested.

"At least let me come along." JB said. Johan shook his head.

"I need you guys to stay here in case things go wrong and JB I need you to watch them." He explained then smirked. "The best rule to follow in the bounty hunter business is: Always have a backup plan." Mom stopped protesting and showed her displeasure through grudging. Dad still looked confused.

"Don't worry, because you won't have time to worry. It'll be like we never left at all." Katherine said reassuringly. She grabbed Jordan's hand and his forearm. Everything went black as they were traveling through Outer Time.

"Do you really think things are going to go bad." Katherine asked. Johan could hardly see her face in the Elucidator's glow. He couldn't remember one time where a plan had gone accordingly. Even as a bounty hunter that was true. It was always improvising, thinking on his feet. That was the only way to _survive_ in the business.

"We're doing things differently this time." He finally responded.


	16. Chapter 16

"So where are we heading?" Jordan asked trying to sound but the fear was still there.

"Remember what Second said, that Time or the Elucidators aren't working right." Katherine said.

"That's what I'm counting on. But as for where were going, back to the first landed." Johan answered.

"Why? What was so special about that lab?" Jordan questioned. Johan didn't want to answer but he knew he had to so he would trust him. At least a little bit.

"I've been there before." He replied quietly.

"So what? All of us have." Katherine said slightly snotty. There was no time for anyone else to talk. The light was blinding and he began to feel torn apart. Johan could feel the cold hard floor on his back. His body felt just like the floor, hard and stiff. Everything was fuzzy. There was something tall and dark colored next to his head. He could hear something as if it was coming from far away. At first he thought it was Katherine telling Jordan not to make a sound. But he quickly found he was wrong. It wasn't Katherine's voice but another female voice he did recognize. _She can't be here. Can she?_ There were other distant voices but he couldn't understand what they were saying. One was rough and gritty, the other was sarcastic. The fuzziness became clear. The object next to his head was a table. He forced his stiff body to get up using the table as support. Three people were crowded next to a computer. A women dressed in dark clothes was muttering to the other two guys as she scrolled along. They all suddenly pulled back and looked at him.

"Geo. You stay here and let us know if anyone is on to us." The women said. She was clearly the one running the show.

"Don't forget ou-" He started but she quickly cut him off.

"Yea, yea. I know our deal." She sounded annoyed. They were suddenly gone. He was left alone in the lab with just the glow of the computer. Johan watched but wasn't sure what was going on. Suddenly there was the sound of heavy footsteps approaching fast outside the door. No, it was coming from the computer. They were coming for him. there was a burst of static in his ear before hearing the women's voice.

"You're on your own kid." It was cold and heartless. The footsteps become louder and shook his whole body.

"Johan! Johan!" Katherine's voice hissed in his ear as his shoulder moved. Johan cracked his eyes open. It was Katherine. Jordan was looking at him over her shoulder. In his hand was JB's Elucidator.

"Are you alright? You passed out." Katherine whispered. He passed out? So it was a dream. Good. But the fear of being found still haunted him. Before he got to respond she clamped her hand down on his arm. There was the sound of a door opening. Footsteps collided together.

"Are you _sure_ this is a protected space?" A man asked. For a brief moment Johan thought the voice belong to one of the guys from his dream. "You're certain that no can detect our presences here?" Johan could _feel_ the man's anxiety.

"Why? Are you afraid of that alleged break in two years ago?" An another man with a deep voice scoffed.

"It _did_ happen!" The first retorted. A women's voice broke them up.

"This is where Gary and Hodge came when they broke out of time prison and the Time Agency never knew. So yes, where safe here." She assured.

"You have news about those two? Our top and richest performers?" The first asked. "I've been so worried about them." He added sarcastically. Johan recognized the sound of skin being slapped.

"Stop it. You know Interchorological Recuse would have gone bankrupt years ago if it hadn't been for Gary and Hodge." The women said.

"We're going bankrupt anyhow, if the Time Agency has its way." The first guy muttered.

"Yeah, they hate us, but do you think the Time Agency would actually resort to murder?" She asked. _Maybe not them._ Johan instantly thought. One of the men gasped.

"No one from the Time Agency would do that. It'd ruin their own sense of perfection. And they would have to file a lifetime's worth of paperwork to justify it." The deeper voice argued.

"Why are you making these wild accusations? What have you heard?" The first man asked.

"Gary and Hodge have gone missing. I haven't been able to reach them in any point in time, in any dimension. They vanished completely from August fifteen, 1932." The women said. Johan resisted smirking. Finally beating them was a huge victory for him. But what had JB none with their baby versions? He listened closer to their conversation and his heart fell. Everything they had done was still on course and time was going to end. He hadn't won at all and he was the reason everything would come to an end. _Failure! Did you really think you could stop it when the best the Time Agency had to offer couldn't do it?_ Echoed in his head. Johan slouched a litter lower.

"I'll cover your tracks if want to go to your source at the Time Agency. Do you have any theories? Any leads?" Deep Voice asked.

"The Skidmore incident has to be the key. Gary and Hodge despised those two kids. They can't stand the boy most." She said. _I hate them too!_ Katherine's nail dug deeper into his arm.

"Let's all see what we can find out, and then meet here again this afternoon. Does five o'clock work for both of you?" Asked the first man. Johan could only assume they nodded when their no reply.

"We're not telling Curtis Rathbone about any of this, right?" The said more than asked.

"Very funny." The deeper voice said. The door opened and closed again. Jordan said something muffled. Katherine released both of them from her death grip.

"Oh, sorry." She muttered. Johan stood up using the desk to support him. The room was exactly the same as before. He started feeling slightly dizzy by the sight. He took deep, slow breaths as Katherine and Jordan stood up next to him.

"We've got to tell JB, or, or -" Katherine rambled.

"JB probably already knows. Didn't you see how tense and stressed he was back at our house." Johan said feeling better. It felt so weird to say _our house_. Should he be saying _your house_ instead? That thought made him feel even more of an outsider.

"Wasn't it enough to stress anyone out that Mom and Dad were the wrong ages? And that two- no, four dimensions were squished together." Jordan asked. There was a pause as if he was deciding to say something else. "Look. Why don't we just go back to Mom and Dad and let them figure out what to do?" _Wow either he's really scare or a coward or is he just that dense?_ Johan marveled.

"Mom and Dad don't know anything about time travel or Gary and Hodge or how to save time." Katherine said with a little sting in her words.

"But don't you want to save them?" Jordan asked, a little whiny in Johan's opinion.

"Sure but what good will that do to fix them then everything ends anyway. We go on." Johan said.

"Why would Gary and Hodge want all of time to end? How does that help them? I thought they just wanted to get rich! What's the point of being rich if everything's just going to end?" Katherine asked.

"Revenge. Plain and simple. We've – I've messed them up a lot. They wanted me to end with our version of time. Hodge said it was going to end anyway. To unstable from the time crash. They were going to a dimension where nothing important changed. And they got exactly what they wanted except they didn't know about me." Johan answered. He shot a quick look at Jordan.

"But then you smashed all the dimensions together." Jordan said accusingly. Johan eyed him.


End file.
